


HTTYD: The Next Generation

by AmberlyNightengale



Series: HTTYD: Zephyr's Story [1]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-01-20 23:30:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21289973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmberlyNightengale/pseuds/AmberlyNightengale
Summary: What happened after the events of How to Train Your Dragon 3? Zephyr Haddock takes after her father, Hiccup, in many ways, including her love for dragons. Forbidden to be with her best friend Brightwing the way her father was with Toothless, she will do whatever it takes to keep the dragons safe.
Series: HTTYD: Zephyr's Story [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1541134
Kudos: 13





	1. The First Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> I am SO EXCITED to be bringing you my HTTYD fanfiction! I grew up with HTTYD and was so sad when it ended, so I wanted to continue it with the next generation of Haddocks. Hope you enjoy!

The small boat rocked gently from side to side, a soft rhythm to lull an infant to sleep with. The sea was calm that day; only the movement of its passengers fueled the motion of the vessel.

A small girl with soft auburn hair bounced on the balls of her feet on the deck, her eyes wild with energy that didn't quite seem to match the calm of the sea. She had good reason to be unable to contain her eager spirit; she was on her way to encounter something that very few would ever have the opportunity to see.

The mother noticed her daughter's restlessness and smiled, remembering the way she herself had been as a child. "Zeph," she called, her eyes twinkling as the girl perked up at the sound of her name. "Come here. I have something to show you."

The daughter obediently stood and crossed the deck to her mother, her balance impeccable. The mother smiled proudly. There could be no doubt in the minds of any who saw her that this girl was indeed her daughter.

"Take this," the mother said, placing a rope into the child's small hands. "Pull it so the sail comes out."

The girl was quick to comply. However, her small arms had only been in use for eight years, and hardly had the strength to follow their instructions alone. The mother took hold of the upper rigging and pulled, helping the girl with her task.

The daughter smiled her thanks, then turned her attention to the front of the small ship, where a tall, handsome man somewhere in his late twenties held up a small boy with hair the color of the sun to peer over the edge across the waves. The man murmured softly to the boy, saying things the girl's little ears couldn't quite make out. "What's Daddy saying?" she asked her mother curiously.

The mother glanced in the pair's direction and listened for a moment. Then she smiled. "He's telling a story you've heard many times. The one about the dragons."

The little girl's eyes brightened. She loved hearing about the brave hero who had tamed and befriended many dragons, even saved them from almost certain destruction multiple times.

The mother knew what her daughter wanted. "It's your brother's first time hearing it," she explained. "We'd better not interrupt."

The girl nodded, understanding, and turned back to the rigging. Just then, a great wind blew up, and would have pulled the ropes from her grasp if her mother hadn't been holding them tight from above. The two laughed, and the father and son, who had turned to watch them, joined in.

Suddenly, a loud shriek broke through the once-still air, startling the girl into releasing the ropes. The father and mother shared a knowing glance that the girl understood at once. They had arrived.

The girl rushed up to the prow of the boat and stared eagerly into the mist. But the wind threw strands of her hair into her face, and the fog was so thick, so she could see nothing.

But it appeared that the father could. He set the boy next to his mother and joined the girl at the prow. He swept his daughter up into his arms, placed her with the boy and their mother, and returned to the prow looking more eager than the girl had ever seen him. But she was thinking of something else. Just before her father had ushered her to her mother's side, she had just been able to glimpse a huge, winged, shadowy figure on the rocks.

Another shriek, and the father stepped back, letting the figure land on the front of the boat. The girl gasped in a mixture of fear, delight, and awe.

It was the most powerful creature either of the children had ever seen. Its tough, strong skin was covered in shining black scales. Its claws were curled and sharp. Its teeth were bared, and it glared with slit pupils in its green eyes.

The dragon eyed the father angrily, a low growl rumbling in its throat.

The boy immediately buried his face in his mother's chest, but the girl was simply confused. Why was the dragon angry? Weren't dragons supposed to be nice?

Then the girl saw the dragon's protective stance, and what it was defending. It was four other dragons, two white and two black. The two black ones and one of the white were much smaller than the one on the ship.

Panic filled the girl's chest. They had encroached on the dragon's territory! It thought they were going to hurt its babies! And the girl's father was the target of the dragon's anger! She drew closer to her mother, praying silently and fervently to every god she knew of for her father's safety.

But the father didn't seem at all afraid, only concerned. But under that thin layer of worry was immense joy, threatening to burst out of his chest and drown them all in happiness.

But first, the dragon. The father surprised the children by not running. Rather, he held his hand out to the dragon and spoke to it in a soft voice. "Hey, bud," he whispered. "It's been a while." He reached out to place his hand on the dragon's snout, but a harsh, warning growl ripped through the creature's chest, and the father pulled back.

"It's okay, it's okay," he said hastily. "It's me, bud. Remember me?" Once again, he reached out, keeping his eyes pointed downward. The dragon still looked wary, but it allowed the father to place his hand on its snout. It gave the father's hand a careful sniff, then recognition filled its eyes. It let out a joyful moan and pounced on the father.

The girl gasped, and the boy, who had started to peek out from behind his hands, buried his face again and let out a fearful sob. The mother pulled both children closer to her, though she laughed a little as she did so.

The girl felt a bit like laughing, too, as she watched her father and the dragon wrestle across the deck, both obviously enjoying themselves more than they seemed to have done in a very long time. They rolled around the boat, batting playfully at each other.

The mother carefully drew her son out from his hiding place and showed him the scene. "It's okay," she chuckled. "The dragon is not going to eat your father."

The small battle finally ended when the dragon, having pinned the father's legs beneath its own massive ones, began licking its temporary prisoner, soaking him from head to toe. The father began squirming to avoid the huge pink tongue. "Toothless!" he protested. He managed to free himself and shook as much of the dragon saliva off his clothes as he could. "You _know_ that doesn't wash out!" But his chuckle assured that no hard feelings were held.

Despite how nervous the girl was, she giggled a little. The sound seemed to remind the father of her and her brother's presence. He placed one hand back on the dragon's snout and held the other out to his children. "Come on."

The girl froze. She had always dreamed of petting a dragon, but now that she actually had the opportunity, she didn't feel quite as sure as before.

But the father never withdrew his hand. He smiled encouragingly at the two shocked children. "It's okay," he said. "He won't hurt you."

The girl was still unsure, but with a gentle push from her mother, she stepped forward, her brother nervously trailing behind.

The father took the hands of his two children and gently eased them closer to the dragon. "Just do what I'm doing," he said softly. "Put your hands here, like me. That's it." He guided the children's small hands toward the place where his own rested. Both started at how close their hands were to the great creature, but did not dare move them. The dragon sniffed, then after a moment, pressed his large nose to their miniature palms. The girl jumped, but upon realizing what she had accomplished, breathed a soft laugh of relief and awe. The boy simply gaped at his hand, stunned and fascinated.

Seeing that the girl was clearly pleased, the dragon turned his body, careful not to move its head and disturb the boy, its eyes visibly portraying an offer.

The father placed a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder. "He wants to know if you want to ride him."

The girl looked up at her father, amazed. But the opportunity was too tempting for her to resist. She grinned and nodded.

Only minutes later, she was clutching the long spines of a blue-scaled dragon, laughing as her mother steered them through the sky. Off to her left somewhere, her father, on the back of the black dragon, tossed her brother into the air so that he squealed with delight. The girl looked down to see their small ship, the size of the smallest pebble from up here. The girl knew she should probably feel afraid, but instead she felt… free. Like she could fly away and never worry about anything ever again.

"You feel that, Zeph?" her mother asked. Her eyes were shut, and her arms were spread to catch the wind that whipped her hair. Her face glowed with bliss. "This is what it is to be a dragon."

The girl looked ahead and tried to connect to her senses on a deeper level. She felt the wind coursing through her hair, saw the perfect blue of the sky. She closed her eyes and heard the perfect tranquility of the world above the clouds.

If this was what it was to be a dragon, she wished she had been born one.

The girl opened her eyes. Hadn't Vikings once been able to live like this? Why couldn't they now? She opened her mouth to ask her mother about this, but before she could, her mother's eyes flew open. "Oh, no, you don't," she muttered. She reached around the girl and gripped the blue dragon's spines, and the dragon shot off into the clouds like a spear from the hand of a god. The girl clutched her handholds and shouted with joy.

A moment later, the father and brother were in sight. The girl reached out for her father, and she climbed onto the back of the black dragon just as her brother took his place on that of the blue one.

The father gently took his daughter's hands and wrapped them around the short spines of the black dragon. "Hold on," he said. Then the dragon flew off with incredible speed.

The girl felt no fear. She knew, beyond a doubt, this was where she truly belonged.


	2. The Girl's Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The daughter of the chief of Berk has a secret...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me SO LONG to write this chapter!!! I write my books physically first, then transcribe them on here. Hope you enjoy it now that it's finally copied!

It had been seventeen years since Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, son of Stoick the Vast, had tamed the dragons. It had been twelve years since he had saved the dragons from almost certain destruction and become chief of Berk. It had been eleven years since he released the dragons, never to return. That is, until the world was ready for them.

A ten-year-old girl stood on a cliff over the water, staring out at what might at first glance appear to be nothing, but she knew this was hardly the truth. Out there was the home of the dragons.

The girl knew this, because she was Zephyr Haddock, firstborn child of Hiccup himself. And she was one of only five people who saw the dragons anymore.

Of course, she hadn't lived to see the era of the dragons. She was born the year after it ended. But she got to have a small taste of what it was like, if only for her father seventeen years ago, before the changes.

"Brightwing," Zephyr hissed through her teeth. Nothing happened.

"Brightwing!" she repeated more firmly. "Come out here now!"

A throaty, not-human laugh came from the underside of the ledge. Zephyr frowned.

"Come on, Brightwing!" she said. "Dad will be back soon! Are we going or not?"

A white dragon head suddenly popped out from the underside of the cliff, startling Zephyr into stumbling back. "Don't _do_ that!" she reprimanded her as Brightwing laughed her dragonish laugh.

"Quit kidding around," said Zephyr. "Let's just go!"

Brightwing rolled her eyes, but she crawled out from underneath the ledge and stood there, waiting patiently for Zephyr to mount her.

Zephyr threw her leg over Brightwing's body and stared out over the sea. The sun sparkled on the waves, the clouds soft and warm. It was beautiful from here, and even more beautiful from the sky.

Zephyr soaked it in, letting her spirit fly free like the dragon it was. "Let's go."

She and Brightwing took off into the sky, like dragon riders of old.

* * *

Zephyr sneaked back into the chief's house an hour later. If her father caught her, she could get in big trouble.

"Hey, Zeph!" called a small blond figure from the end of the hall. "You're back!"

"Shh!" Zephyr hissed at him. "Not so loud, Fink!"

Zephyr's seven-year-old brother grinned. He was missing one of his front teeth. "Whoops. Sorry, Zeph."

Zephyr rolled her eyes. "Where's Dad?"

"Out doing chief stuff," Nuffink replied, chewing on his fingernails. "And Mom's prolly doing stuff about the baby."

Zephyr crossed to her brother and took his hand out of his mouth. "What about Grandma Valka? Where's she?"

Nuffink shrugged. "Who knows? Dad says she's a 'free spirit', whatever that means."

Zephyr giggled. "Well, I'm gonna be in my room. Remember to knock if you want to talk to me."

"Aww, don't go!" Nuffink whined. "It's _boring_ here without Mom or Dad around!"

Zephyr snickered. "Why don't you go visit Gobber? Maybe he can help you make an ax or something."

Her little brother's eyes lit up. "Yeah! Thanks, Zeph!" He ran out the door.

Zephyr rolled her eyes as she entered her room. Gobber would never let Nuffink make an ax, not in a million years. Not unless Fink was his actual apprentice. Which he wasn't.

But thoughts about her little brother and weaponry were soon chased out of Zephyr's mind. Then, as always, her mind turned to the dragons.

Thor's beard, how she wished she could fly around with Brightwing all the time, the way her father used to years ago! The days of dragon riding sounded like the greatest days there ever were!

But dragon riding was against the rules, the ones that had been made when Zephyr's father had fought dragon trappers one time too many. This way was safer for the dragons. If they stayed in the Hidden World, no one could hunt them down.

Zephyr loved Brightwing. She wanted her friend to be safe, but she was very much her father's daughter, and Brightwing was more of a friend to Zephyr than any human, except perhaps her little brother.

_Rules are rules for a reason,_ Zephyr reminded herself. This was the first lesson she had been taught as the future chieftess of Berk. _There are no rules without reason._

_Saving the dragons is the most important thing,_ Zephyr thought. _They can come back once everyone's ready._

But as Zephyr thought about it, she realized the dragons _weren't_ safe. Not all of them, anyway. The only dragons that had been taken to the Hidden World were the ones taken from Old Berk, all of which had come from the same two nests. There _had_ to be more nests out there.

And she would be the one to find and save them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funny story about Zeph... Originally, I didn't know she had an actual, canon name, so her name was actually Aisla in the original format. I finally looked it up so I didn't look stupid when publishing it. Sigh... But Aisla will be returning as a different character, though you'll have to wait for book 3 to find out who, MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! ;)


	3. The Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zephyr is more than ready to protect the dragons-- but will her father allow it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for your support. I really love that you all love this so much!

"No."

"But why not?" Zephyr complained. "This is a serious problem!"

"And I'm not saying it's not," said Hiccup, "but I won't have you going out there and putting yourself in danger. You are the future chief, but more than that, you're my daughter. If anyone's going, it should be me."

"At this time?" said Astrid, smiling at her husband. "Berk _needs_ you, Hiccup. If someone has to go, maybe I--"

"Absolutely not," said Hiccup. "You're in no condition to--"

"I'm just as capable as I ever was!" Astrid replied fiercely.

"Hiccup's right," said Valka. In eleven years, she had acquired streaks of gray in her braid, which somehow made her look more regal and powerful. "It's not about you, Astrid, what about your children? And the baby, too. Going off on this flight now would only hurt him-- or her," she added with a wink at Zephyr.

"Please, Daddy," Zephyr said. "I can go. I'll take Brightwing--"

"Out of the question," said Hiccup, shaking his head roughly. "We'll send Fishlegs or Snotlout--"

"Fishlegs has to teach the village kids." Astrid pointed out. "And Snotlout-- well, you know Snotlout. You'll never be able to drag him away from those combat classes he's instructing."

"The twins aren't dependable, either," said Valka. "They'd only bicker and fight the entire time, and they'd never get anything done."

"We'll send someone else, then," said Hiccup. "_Anyone_ else. _You_, young lady," he said with a stern look at Zephyr, who had been just about to speak up, "are not going anywhere."

"But _why not_?" Zephyr demanded. "It's not like _you_ never did anything similar--"

"I wasn't ten years old," her father objected. "I was much older than--"

"What about Mom?" Zephyr said. "Mom said that she used to get involved in the raids when she was even younger than me. She was only seven! I'm not saying you should send Fink, am I?"

"That doesn't matter," Hiccup said. "Putting out fires is one thing. Taming a whole nest of dragons--"

"You would have done it," Zephyr said doggedly. "If Grandma hadn't been taken by a dragon when you were little, you would have tamed _your_ nest when you were my age."

Hiccup's spine stiffened. "That's not--"

"Let her go, son" said Valka, placing her hand on Zephyr's shoulder. "She's right. You _would_ have changed Berk sooner if I had come back. She is just like you, Hiccup. If you could change the world at such a young age, who's to say she can't?"

"Zeph isn't me, Mom," Hiccup said gently. "She's my daughter. I only want to keep her safe."

"And I only want to keep the dragons safe," said Zephyr. "Please, Dad, let me go. I'll come back in a year at most."

Hiccup closed his eyes, torn between protecting his daughter and letting her do what was best for her. Then he sighed. "You'll go with your grandmother."

"Yes!" Zephyr cheered.

"And no one can know about this," her father continued. "It has to be kept secret. We'll tell everyone you're going to Old Berk."

Zephyr threw her arms around him. "Thank you, Dad!" she said. "I promise I won't let you down!"

Astrid, hand resting protectively on her stomach over the child that grew there, smiled sadly after her as she ran out of the room. "They grow up so fast," she murmured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, bad news. I've lost the physical copy of this book, AARGH!!! I promise I'll find it, but it may be a while before I post again. Sorry!


	4. The Girl's Hopes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zephyr leaves New Berk with Valka and learns more of her legacy, but her plans differ from what she has told her father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! I found the draft, guys! Now, finally, I can bring you the next chapter of Zephyr's story!

Zephyr giggled as seawater sprayed her in the face. It reminded her of that day two years ago when she’d first met Brightwing. Speaking of which…

“Can we let Brightwing out now?” she asked. “I think we’re far enough away.”

Valka nodded. Zephyr grinned and darted to the trapdoor in the middle of the floor. She undid the latch and threw the door open.

Brightwing’s head popped up from the hollow space below. She was chewing on something. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and she began to gag. A moment of retching later, a fish head fell out of her mouth at Zephyr’s feet.

“Brightwing!” Zephyr scolded. “That was for the trip!”

Despite what she had told her father, Zephyr did _ not _ plan to search for the nest with Grandma Valka. She wanted to prove that she was worthy of being chieftess of Berk by finding and saving an entire nest by herself.

Grandma Valka was in on the plan. In fact, each of them believed it was her own idea.

“When we get far enough out here,” Valka said, “you’re going to take off with Brightwing, while Cloudjumper and I head back to Old Berk to salvage what we can. Make sure you stop often--”

“I _ know_, Grandma,” said Zephyr, rolling her eyes. “We’ve been over this, like, a million times.”

Valka smirked at her granddaughter. “It’s my own skin I’m trying to save,” she said. “Imagine what your father would say if I told him you were lost at sea on _ my _ watch.”

Zephyr grinned.

A short while later, Valka anchored the small boat. “Here we are.”

Zephyr looked. Off in the distance, she could see the barest trace of an island covered with old ruins. “Is that…”

“Old Berk,” Valka finished with a misty look in her eyes. “Oh, I wish you could have seen it in its glory days, lass. That’s where your people come from.”

Zephyr wondered if she might have come from there, too. Would she be set to rule over an island where she could fly with Brightwing every day? Or would she have been learning to kill her?

Zephyr hugged her grandmother, then mounted Brightwing. “I’ll see you in a year,” said Valka.

Zephyr looked down sheepishly. “That’s the thing,” she said. “I may be gone for longer than that.”

Valka frowned. “And why’s that, lass?”

“I’m not limiting myself by time,” Zephyr said. “I’m not coming back until I’ve found at least one nest. I don’t even have to train any dragons. I just… want to feel like I’ve accomplished something.”

She expected her grandmother to be angry. Instead, Valka smiled. “Oh, you are my granddaughter,” she said. “I’ll see you when you find that nest, then.”

Zephyr smiled gratefully at her grandmother. Then, with a nudge of her foot, she and Brightwing soared off into the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't one of my more popular works, but I am grateful for the support I have received. The next book will be a lot more interesting (I hope), so stick around until then!


	5. The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zephyr's journey takes a turn for the worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost done! Can't wait to finally end this story so we can move on to what happens after!

Zephyr hadn’t flown so high since her parents took her to the Hidden World. She reached out to touch a cloud, giggling at how cold and wet it was.

“This isn’t so bad,” she said to Brightwing. The dragon snorted and tossed her head.

“Oh, stop it,” Zephyr said. “Just because _ you’ve _ never flown this far…”

But if Zephyr was being honest with herself, she was feeling a little nervous, too. She wasn’t sure how long she’d be away from home, or if she’d ever even find a nest…

_ Stop thinking like that_, Zephyr ordered herself. _ Of _ course _ you’ll find a nest! You’re Zephyr Haddock, firstborn daughter of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the greatest dragon trainer of all time! It’s your destiny! _

_ But I _ am _ only ten, after all, _ she reasoned. _ Maybe it’s okay to be a little scared. _

Brightwing tensed up suddenly. Her eyes darted back and forth and she whimpered.

“What?” Zephyr asked. “I told you, you should have gone back at our last stop-- oh.”

She had noticed what Brightwing’s real problem was. A giant thunder and lightning storm was heading straight for them, threatening and ominous.

“That might be a problem,” Zephyr said. “Hold on…”

She scanned the storm all over, searching for any safer routes to take.

“It’s too big to go around,” she finally decided. “And if we go over it, we may not be able to land for a long time. We’ll have to go through it.”

Brightwing tossed her head defiantly and prepared to go into a dive.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” said Zephyr. “Come on! We’ve come all this way! You’re not going to stop now because of a little storm, are you?”

Brightwing snorted, but Zephyr knew she had gotten to her. Brightwing had a rather delicate ego.

The moment they entered the clouds, however, Zephyr realized Brightwing may have been right. The wind tossed them around, and within seconds, Zephyr was soaked.

“Look out!” she cried, pointing at the sparks that signified that a lightning bolt was forming. Brightwing only just dodged the splitting light.

“Whoo!” Zephyr said, giddy with relief. “That wasn’t so bad, was it? We are on a ro--”

And then she was struck from the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys love Zeph as much as I do. She's such a fun character! Hope you guys have enjoyed her journey so far!


	6. The Lost Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The storm has ended... and something has been lost.

Her first sensation was of pain.

Her head throbbed. Her limbs ached. Even her mind felt sore from thinking about it.

As she came to, she felt something else. A cold, wet something touching her face. She opened her eyes groggily to see that it was the nose of a large white animal with wide green eyes.

“What…?” she said, unable to form any more words. The white creature moaned and nudged her with its large snout.

“Over here!” shouted a voice that sounded farther away than she guessed it really was. The white animal stood protectively over her.

There was a loud crash, and a big burly person burst through the foliage, brandishing a torch and an ax. He gasped when he saw her. “It has a girl!” He glared at the white creature. “Stay back, beast!”

The creature made a lot of angry noises, making it clear that it would not obey.

Other people joined the first man. All of them held large weapons. They shouted at the white animal to back off, to get away from her. When it didn’t, the first person said, “Enough! Let’s finish it off!”

The white creature screeched at them, but didn’t leave her side. The people began to come toward them, but the creature wouldn’t have it. A large purple ball of fire came blasting out of its mouth. It hit the ground near the feet of a small group of the people, knocking them back into a tree trunk.

The first person gasped. “Stay back!” he shouted at the others.”Don’t fight it! It’s too dangerous!”

The white animal looked distressed. It shot one last look back at her, then ran off into the night.

The first person came over to examine her. “I don’t believe it!” he said. “She’s alive!”

And then her world went dark.

* * *

She woke up inside a large hut. A fire was stoked in the hearth, and the man from before was staring at her.

“Good, you’re awake,” he grunted. “I was starting to lose hope.”

She blinked. “Who are you?”

“Name’s Unferth,” said the man. “What’s yours, lass?”

She frowned as she tried to remember. “I… I don’t know.”

The man called Unferth frowned. “You _ don’t know_?”

“I can’t remember,” she said. “I… where am I? How did I get here?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” said Unferth. “Like you fell out of the sky, it was. You mean to say you can’t remember _ anything_?”

She thought hard. A name popped into her head. “Astrid,” she said.

“That your name?”

“No,” she said. She was quite sure of it. “But I don’t know whose it really is.”

“Well, we’ll call you Astrid,” said Unferth. “Are you all right, lassie?”

“I’m not sure,” said Astrid honestly. “I can’t remember anything at all about who I am and how I got here. But I don’t hurt as much now.”

“That’s good,” said Unferth. “You’re healing. You say you don’t remember who you are? Where you came from?”

“No,” said Astrid. “What happened?”

“We found you with a dragon,” said Unferth. “One of the deadliest I’ve ever seen. Thank Odin we got you out alive.”

“Would it have killed me?”

“Most likely,” said Unferth grimly. “Dragons are ruthless killers.”

That didn’t sound right to Astrid, but she _ had _ lost her memory. This Unferth person seemed to think it was the truth, anyway.

“What am I going to do?” she wondered.

“You’re one of us now,” said Unferth. “I’ll be your guardian, the council agreed on it when I brought you back. Got nothing better to do, anyway. Think you can stand?”

Astrid got to her feet. “I think I’m okay.”

Unferth led her to the door. When he opened it, Astrid saw a beautiful little village, with brown huts decorated with red copper and moss green and an amazing view of the sea that seemed to stretch for eternity.

“Astrid,” said Unferth, “welcome to Skaldi. Your new home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHEEEEEEE!!!! First book's finished! To those of you who have been reading this since the beginning, I want to thank you for the support you have shown me just in reading this work. It feels so encouraging to know that I have supporters out there who are cheering me on. Thank you so much, and stay tuned for the next book, Dragon Girl, which will follow the newly-dubbed Astrid as she leaves her mark on Skaldi!

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to recreate this last scene from The Hidden World through Zephyr's eyes, just to show how much like her father she really is. This scene made me cry in the theaters, it was so beautiful!


End file.
